The subject invention relates to locking methods and apparatus, safekeeping systems, lock boxes, gun lock cabinets and boxes, and to security systems.
Many locking systems for various purposes have become known over the years. By way of example, some automobiles are equipped with a facility for opening the trunk lid from the driver's area by means of a push button located at or near the glove compartment, for operating a solenoid at the trunk lid lock via an electric line. The trunk lid may thus be opened electrically and remotely as an alternative to using the regular trunk lock key.
In the context of security systems, code entry systems, frequently of the keyboard type, are sometimes provided to enable the opening of a door without or in circumvention of a conventional key.
In the storage of valuables, guns and other objects, safes and strongboxes are frequently used to prevent such social ills as theft, abuse, and injury. Sometimes such containers are equipped with high-quality locks having rather elaborate keys. This safeguards the container against picking of the lock, but has the drawback that anyone who finds the key can open the box with no particular effort. Accordingly, the owner of the container will have to establish and continually maintain special precaution to safeguard the key against loss or ready discovery thereof.
This often renders the contents of the box less readily available to the owner than would be desirable, especially when the situation arises that the owner has to have frequent quick access to the contents of the container.
For repeated quick access to the contents of the container, the owner should actually carry the key on his or her person continually. This is, however, not always practical. For instance, carrying keys on one's person is typically impractical where swimsuits and similar recreational clothing is or are worn and where the key needs to be of some complexity to prevent picking of the lock. Also, constantly carrying a key on one's person exposes the key to loss, particularly in active environments, such as hunting lodges, where the locked box may be employed to keep guns against access by children or unauthorized persons.
In these and similar situations, it would be better for the box to have an electronic or coded lock, which the owner could actuate by dialing or keying-in a preset code. That, however, would have the disadvantage that the owner would have to give away the particular code whenever he authorized another person to get a document or object from the locked container. The owner would thus have to change the code rather frequently, in order to retain control over the particular locking facility. Necessitated frequent changes of the code, however, engender the danger of the owner either forgetting what the code is at the moment or of the owner repeatedly having to make written records of the code, thereby increasing the risk of discovery by another.
Also, there is a considerable risk with electically operated locks that electric power failures may bar access to the inside of the locked container. In fact, if a power supply and electric locking system are self-contained in the safe or strongbox, a failure of the electric system may require forceful opening of the safe or strongbox, with resulting damage thereto and jeopardy of its contents.